Conviction in Jasper dragging death upheld

Associated press

Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, April 3, 2002

AUSTIN - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals today upheld the capital murder conviction and death sentence for Lawrence Russell Brewer, one of three men convicted in the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd Jr.

Brewer raised 12 points, alleging errors in jury selection and that the trial court should not have ordered he be examined by the state's psychiatrist. He also objected to the admission of a sexually explicit letter he wrote that was used as evidence during trial.

The state's highest court for criminal appeals rejected each count.

Brewer, John William King and Shawn Allen Berry were convicted of killing Byrd, a black man who was chained to the back of a pickup truck by three white men and dragged to pieces along a country road near Jasper.